I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for interference control in a wireless communication system.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services; for instance, voice, video, packet data, broadcast, and messaging services can be provided via such wireless communication systems. These systems can be multiple-access systems that are capable of supporting communication for multiple terminals by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data services rapidly grows, there has been an effort toward implementation of efficient and robust communication systems with enhanced performance. For example, in recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communications with mobile communications and have increasingly demanded great voice quality, reliable service, and low prices.
In addition to mobile telephone networks currently in place, a new class of small base stations has emerged, which can be installed in the home of a user and provide indoor wireless coverage to mobile units using existing broadband Internet connections. Such personal miniature base stations are generally known as access point base stations, or, alternatively, Home Node B (HNB) or Femto cells. Typically, such miniature base stations are connected to the Internet and the network of a mobile operator via a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) router, cable modem, or the like.
Wireless communication systems can be configured to include a series of wireless access points, which can provide coverage for respective locations within the system. Such a network structure is generally referred to as a cellular network structure, and access points and/or the locations they respectively serve in the network are generally referred to as cells.
In order for a terminal to connect to and/or communicate with a base station in a wireless communication system, the connecting terminal and base station can communicate one or more signals to each other on the forward and reverse links. However, if a terminal attempts to connect to a distant base station while in the presence of one or more closer base stations, signals from the closer base stations can jam the terminal and render the terminal unable to receive signals from the base station on the forward link. This can occur when, for example, a terminal attempts to connect to a macro cell in the presence of restricted femto cells to which the terminal does not have access.
In order to obtain service from a desired base station in such a scenario, a terminal can request nearby interfering base stations to set aside certain interlaces for the use of the distant base station serving the terminal. However, a malicious user can abuse this functionality by submitting requests to base stations to set aside interlaces arbitrarily, which could in some circumstances significantly impair the operational ability of the base stations to which the requests are submitted. Accordingly, it would be desirable to implement techniques to mitigate the effects of this and other such attacks on a wireless communication system.